


Roommates

by DarkWitchOfErie



Series: Parkner Week 2020 [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: College AU, M/M, Movie Nights, Parkner Week 2020, Tony and Harley fell out of contact, Tony's only in the end though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25695178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkWitchOfErie/pseuds/DarkWitchOfErie
Summary: Exactly what you think it is, a college AU in which Parkner are roommates. There's movie nights, cuddling, and confessions.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker
Series: Parkner Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860076
Comments: 6
Kudos: 149





	Roommates

Harley arrived later than he intended to on moving day. Much later, in fact. It was after dinnertime by the time he carried a few of his boxes up to his dorm room. His roommate, a lean boy with curly brown hair, was relaxing back on his bed, physics textbook propped open on his knees. When he opened the door, the man jumped up and grabbed the top box.

“Here, let me help you with that. Do you have more?”

“Yeah, actually. You don’t need to help, it’s no big deal.”

“I don’t mind. But if you’d rather I didn’t, I can stay here.”

He was quiet as he set his boxes down on his bed. “Yeah, alright,” he decided. “I’m Harley Keener, by the way.”

“Peter Parker. Nice to meet you.” They went downstairs to Harley’s cherry red 1965 Mustang. “Wow, where’d you get this?”

“A mechanic I met when I was a kid left it for me as kind of a project car. I learned how to work on cars starting with this one. Fueled my love of engineering.” Together, they carried the last of Harley’s boxes up to their dorm.

Though they both looked back on their first meeting as kind of awkward, they quickly grew past it. Harley, who’d been concerned about finding friends considering he didn’t have any in his own hometown, was pleasantly surprised to find his roommate was making an effort to be his friend. Peter did his best to include him on things that he thought he would enjoy while still inviting him to things he wasn’t sure he would enjoy and not getting upset when Harley turned those things down. Harley wasn’t much for socializing with people he wasn’t familiar with, but he was totally confident in who he was as a person, so he was making an effort to find groups to socialize with at school. After all, if he couldn’t find a group of people who shared his obsession with engineering at MIT, where would he find such a group? Once he found things around campus that interested him, he started inviting Peter to those.

They also had movie nights in their dorm, usually on Friday nights and sometimes with friends, but most often just the two of them. They’d found that even though they both enjoyed sci-fi movies, Peter loved romantic comedies and Harley loved horror movies. So, they set up a rotation for movie nights. First a sci-fi, then the next Friday Peter would pick a romantic comedy, and finally, Harley would pick a horror movie. Then the next week, they’d start the cycle again.

During one movie night after Christmas break, they were laying on their stomachs while watching Harley’s pick of _Thirteen Ghosts_ , Peter got scared and pressed up against Harley’s side like he was trying to hide from the ghosts on screen. This was nothing unusual, it happened with every one of Harley’s picks. Still, part of Harley always looked forward to his picks because he knew it would get Peter to press against him the way he was. This week, Harley had a plan. He was nervous as hell because he didn’t want to ruin the friendship they had, but he’d had encouragement from Peter’s friend, and amicable ex-girlfriend, MJ so he was willing to try. So, when Peter pressed against him, Harley rolled a little onto his side and wrapped an arm around the slightly smaller man.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he said, with a nervous smile that Peter didn’t see because he’d immediately buried his face against Harley’s chest. Peter stayed where he was, wrapping one of his arms around Harley’s waist and gripping the back of his shirt. After a few minutes, Harley moved his hand to run to his fingers down Peter’s back and, when he wasn’t asked to stop, he started running his fingers through Peter’s curls. The movie ended and Harley tried to get up from his bed to stretch only to find that Peter had fallen asleep and still had a death grip on the back of his shirt. With a smile, he closed his laptop and set it on his bedside table.

The next morning, Peter woke up first. Slipping out of Harley’s bed was pretty easy. He grabbed his phone off his charger and slid on a pair of shoes and a jacket. He made his way out to the front of his dorm building before calling Ned.

“Dude, what do you mean you fell asleep in his bed?”

“I mean, we were watching this horror movie, _Thirteen Ghosts_ , and one of the ghosts freaked me out real bad and I turned away from the screen. Then he turned on his side, jokingly telling me he’d protect me, and I must’ve fallen asleep leaning against him because this morning, I woke up in his arms.”

“That’s kinda sweet, actually.”

“Ned! He is my roommate. This is gonna be so awkward when he wakes up.”

“Not necessarily. He knows you get scared during horror movies, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And it’s not like you fell asleep on him on purpose, right?”

“Right.”

“So just play it cool and casual. Like, ‘sorry, dude, didn’t mean to fall asleep on you. Thanks for not pushing me out onto my ass.’”

“Ned!”

“What? Okay, it doesn’t have to be those exact words. But, if you don’t say _something_ , then it is gonna be awkward.” Peter knew Ned was right but wasn’t sure how to apologize for falling asleep on someone. That, and he wasn’t that sorry. He liked cuddling with Harley and he’d slept amazingly well.

Still, he had to say something. He braced himself and headed back up to his dorm. Harley was already awake by the time he got back upstairs.

“Hey, Pete. Sleep well?”

“Yeah, um, about that. Sorry for falling asleep on you.”

“Peter, did you sleep well?”

“Um, yeah?”

“Then don’t worry about it. I know you have trouble falling asleep after my picks for movie night,” Harley brushed off his concern. “You’re welcome to use me as a pillow any time you need to.” With a grin, he strode out of their dorm, presumably to the dining hall. Because Peter did not follow right behind him, he missed Harley’s quick victory dance outside of their door. After a few minutes of puzzling over what the hell that meant, Peter did follow him.

The next Friday they agreed to watch _Pacific Rim_ which, though they’d both seen it, it had been a while since they’d watched it. They started out side by side, Peter nervously fiddling with his hands. It felt… different to be watching movies in a dark room and in close proximity to Harley after falling asleep on him the week before.

Harley seemed to notice this. Effectively putting an end to Peter’s internal debate about whether or not he’d meant it when he said he could use him as a pillow anytime he wanted to, Harley raised the arm closest to him. “Come here.” After a quick look to make sure he’d heard him right, Peter slid over and rested his head on Harley’s shoulder. It took a couple minutes of shifting for them to find a comfortable position and a couple more minutes after that for Peter to relax completely against Harley.

As the movie ended, Peter pretended to be asleep. He wasn’t yet, he loved _Pacific Rim_ and would never fall asleep before the last battle. But he wanted to see what Harley would do this time if he were sleeping again. Having slept in the same dorm for a while and having been used as a pillow the week before, Harley knew Peter wasn’t asleep yet. His breathing was fairly even and he was relaxed, but there was still a little tension in his shoulders and Peter curled up after he was asleep which he hadn’t done yet.

Still, Harley acted as if he had fallen asleep and gently closed the laptop then set it on the ground beside the bed. He then carefully rolled on to his side, pulled the blanket up over them, wrapped his arms around Peter, pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his head, and resolutely ignored the hitch in Peter’s breathing as he did so. Eventually, they both fell asleep curled around each other.

When Peter slid out of bed the next morning, it woke Harley. But he let Peter grab his phone and leave the room without letting him know that he was awake. He then rolled out of bed and picked up his own phone, to text MJ.

_You’re sure this is the best way to do this?_

**_Yes. Why?_ **

_Not sure I have the patience to wait for him to make the first overt move_.

**_Harley, he only confessed that he’s attracted to guys too after we’d been split up for like 3 months. It hasn’t even been a full year since then._ **

_Right. You’re right. I can be patient._

**_Besides, I know for a fact how great cuddling with Peter Parker is._ **

_Yeah it is._

Harley grinned as he set his phone back down. Having not known that she and Peter had dated before, Harley had texted her to ask for advice when he first realized that his feelings for his roommate were more complicated than just platonic. It wasn’t until a week after they started talking about it, that Peter mentioned that he and MJ had dated. At the time, Harley had been a little upset that she hadn’t told him when he started coming to her for advice. But, as she pointed out, their breakup wasn’t because they didn’t like each other but because they both realized they were happier as friends. Which, she was quick to say, made her both the best person to ask for advice and, if she had decided that she didn’t like Harley, the best person to protect Peter. One of the first things she’d told him was to be a little careful and patient but to be confident in himself. Peter was new to admitting he was bisexual and not straight, so he was still nervous about his attraction to guys.

Over the next week, Harley made a point to casually reach out and touch Peter or invade his personal space a little. He always kept a close eye on Peter when he did, just in case he was standing too close for comfort. After the first two days, Peter started to welcome the casual touches and had made a point to stand closer to Harley and to reach out himself. He’d talked to Ned who had told him it sounded like Harley was trying to subtly flirt with him without making him uncomfortable and that, if he didn’t like Harley that way, he needed to say something before it got awkward.

Unbeknownst to both Harley and Peter, MJ and Ned were in constant contact and were doing their best to help Peter if this relationship was something he wanted.

By Friday evening, they’d started holding hands or Harley would sling an arm over Peter’s shoulders when they were walking somewhere together. Peter wanted to be sure this was something that Harley was serious about, so he’d picked _Alex Strangelove_ for his movie pick of the night. While it didn’t mirror their situation, it was a nice, generally happy queer love story and Peter had seen it a thousand times so he wouldn’t feel bad for talking during the movie.

They climbed onto Peter’s bed, set up the laptop on Harley’s legs, and got comfortable. This time, Peter cuddled into Harley’s side without needing any prompting. Harley couldn’t help the warm feeling in his chest as he did and smiled down at him. Peter smiled back up at him and hit the space bar to pause the movie even though the opening credits had barely begun. He’d changed his mind and didn’t want to be distracted by the movie while he talked to Harley.

“I have questions.”

“Ok, ask away.”

Peter’s face scrunched up a little as he debated which question to ask first. He blurted, “Are you flirting with me?” Judging by the slightly panicked look on his face, that did not come out the way he’d intended it to.

Harley decided to roll with it anyway. “Yes. Is it making you uncomfortable?”

“No. Why?”

“Why am I flirting with you?” Peter nodded. Harley sighed and ran his hand through Peter’s hair. “Because I like you, Peter, a lot. So much so that I considered asking for a room switch to avoid making this awkward just in case you didn’t like me back.” He grinned again as Peter’s grip on his t-shirt tightened. “Instead, I got some advice on what I should do to show my interest in a way that wouldn’t freak you out or come on too strong.”

“Oh. So it’s not joking-flirting, it’s for-real-flirting.”

“Yes,” Harley answered even though it wasn’t a question.

“Ok. I need a minute.” Harley raised his arm so Peter could get up, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned the movie back on and stayed right where he was. After a few seconds, Harley brought his arm back down and settled in to watch the movie. Peter used the movie to distract Harley so he could think. He focused on the corner of his laptop instead of the actual movie so he could think without getting absorbed in the story.

After about 20 minutes, he decided that this really was something he wanted. So, he paused the movie again and looked up to see Harley already looking down at him. Staring up at Harley, he reminded himself that there was no reason to be nervous because the other man had already said that he liked him. “Um…I…. Can I kiss you?”

Harley grinned down at him. “Absolutely.” Peter braced himself on his forearm and leaned up to kiss him. Just a gentle pressure, that lasted only a few seconds but Peter swore he could feel tingling all the way down to his toes.

The next morning they stayed cuddled in bed together after they woke up. Harley ignored the sound of his text notifications until he decided it was rude to ignore MJ after she’d helped so much. He texted her a quick thank you and that he’d tell her more after they actually got out of bed.

A week before Spring Break, Peter asked Harley if he wanted to go home with him. Peter had been talking non-stop about how excited he was to get to go home and see his pseudo-father and Harley had been excited for him, while being sad that he was going to miss him. The night before, unknown to Harley, Peter had gone outside and called Tony, asking if he could bring his boyfriend home too.

They drove to New York in Harley’s Mustang. At first, given the directions, Harley had assumed that Peter’s home was somewhere _near_ Avengers Tower. Peter, nervous that Harley wouldn’t believe him, hadn’t actually told his boyfriend that his father-figure was Tony Stark and that he lived part-time in Avengers Tower. Harley knew he was Spider-Man, but it wasn’t widely known that Spider-Man would be a full-time Avenger as soon as he finished school.

Harley pulled into the parking lot under Avenger’s Tower, hyperventilating a little. Peter never said he knew Tony. Would Tony even remember him? After all, it was nearly a decade ago and they’d only known each other for a few days.

“Harls, you ok?” He nodded, not really trusting his own voice and not sure if he actually was okay. “I promise, you don’t need to be nervous. Tony’s pretty awesome and actually laid back when he’s not in front of a camera.”

Harley knew that, after all, he’d helped the man through a panic attack. That he’d caused, but still. They got out of the car and made their way toward the elevator which opened before they got far from the car.

“Hey Underoos,” Tony stepped out, smile on his face.

Peter practically ran to Tony and gripped him in a tight hug. “Tony, I want you to meet my boyfriend….”

“Harley Keener,” Tony seemed to have just seen him.

“Hey, Mechanic.”

Tony strode across the garage and gripped his upper arms. “It’s real good to see you, kid. You’ll have to catch me up on everything.”

“Wait, you two know each other?”

“We met when Harley was…. Is that what I think it is? You kept her running?” Tony, having caught sight of the Mustang strode over to it and ran a hand along the hood. “And she is beautiful, Harley.”

“ _Tony’s_ the mechanic you met as a kid?” Peter walked up to him.

“How many people believed you when you said you knew Tony Stark?” Harley responded.

“Yeah, okay, that’s a good point.”


End file.
